This invention relates to an improved interior member for vehicles and also to a method for its manufacture.
The interior member is required for absorbing shock to a driver or a passenger, for maintaining a good surface feeling and appearance and furthermore for ornamental purposes. It is, for example, used for a knee pad 10 and an instrument panel 11 both shown in FIG. 6 as well as for door trim, quarter trim, a console lid, a center pillar, a pillar garnish or the like.
The interior members generally used are: (1) one composed of only rigid plastic with proper surface patterns; (2) one including layers of semi-rigid polyurethane foam (so-called spray skin foam), a surface film formed by transferring from the coated die surface on the die and a metal insert layer; (3) one made of rigid plastic with fluffed surface; (4) one including a rigid plastic substrate covered with a plastic surface film; and (5) one including layers of a metal insert, semi-rigid polyurethane foam and a plastic surface film. An example of the interior member widely used is shown in FIG. 7, in which a cushion pad 14 is formed between a metal insert (a steel plate) 12 and a surface layer 16. This metal insert 12 is used for absorbing impact, as in a knee pad, and for maintaining its shape, as in a console lid.
The above interior members, however, have the following problems. As for the members (1), (3) and (4), especially for the member (1), the surface feeling lacks softness. Moreover, the manufacturing processes, especially that for surface preparation, of the members (3) and (4) are rather complicated. As for the members (2) and (5), the metal insert increases the weight and cost of the interior member, and it takes much time to form polyurethane foam.
Since an instrument panel often has leather-like grained patterns, other interior members of the vehicle such as a pillar garnish are desired to have the same patterns. The prior art interior members for the pillar garnish or the like, however, can obtain only indistinct grained patterns.
A fabric is generally used as a surface material for seats of a vehicle because of its good surface appearance and feeling. In order to totally coordinate the interior parts of the vehicle, a pillar garnish uses an interior member, made of a surface layer, and a rigid plastic substrate, where the surface layer is composed of the fabric surface and flexible polyurethane foam. This member, however, has problems: it takes time to integrate the surface layer to the substrate; and, because the surface layer prevents vacuum forming, the member can be applied only on interior parts with a simpler shape, Therefore, total decorative coordination of various interior parts is difficult.